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The location of the murder.
SEYMOUR – In the hours before Christopher Stanley allegedly stabbed Rhahzhem Turner to death in a house on Ajellos Farm Road, the two had been arguing at a family gathering, police documents say.
Stanley, 33, was arraigned at Superior Court in Derby on Tuesday (Jan. 21) on charges of murder and first-degree assault. He stands accused of stabbing two people on the evening of Jan. 19.
His next court date is Feb. 13 at Superior Court in Milford.
According to an arraignment report, police were called to 22 Ajellos Farm Rd. at around 11:40 p.m. on Jan. 19. The caller, a woman, said that she and her fiance (Turner) had been stabbed, and that the attacker was still in her home. Several other people were also in the home, having come from various towns in New York for the family gathering.
Police arrived and found Stanley in the kitchen, where the caller identified him as the attacker, the report says. Upstairs, another officer found Turner lying on a hardwood floor. He had been stabbed in the chest and arm.
While medical personnel were on their way to treat Turner, an officer interviewed Stanley in the kitchen. While speaking with Stanley, the officer “detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and noticed that Stanley appeared to be intoxicated.”
Stanley did not admit to stabbing Turner, but he said that the two of them had been arguing prior to police arriving. During the interview, the officer noticed what appeared to be bloodstains on Stanley’s shoes.
“At one point as Stanley was claiming his innocence, he stood up from the chair and told this writer to look at him indicating that if he had stabbed the victim then why is there no blood on his person,” the report states. “However, Stanley’s claim brought attention to his sneakers which were described to be a clean, white color. The writer noticed (2) red colored stains appearing on them.”
According to two witnesses interviewed at the scene, both Stanley and Turner had been drinking throughout the night. The argument got heated over a car, one witness said, and it eventually led to Stanley coming upstairs with a kitchen knife, where he stabbed Turner multiple times in his bedroom.
Turner, 46, was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where he had passed away from his injuries by 4:30 a.m. The woman initially refused medical treatment, but later accepted transport to Griffin Hospital for a stab wound in her leg, according to Seymour Police Chief John Bucherati.
The kitchen knife was taken from the scene, as were Stanley’s stained sneakers.
The arraignment report was written by Officer Brian Marino.
